


A Favor

by FebruaryGemini



Category: Thunderbirds, thunderbirds are go
Genre: Anxiety, Dialogue-Only, Gen, John is the middle child., Radio Communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 11:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13386846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FebruaryGemini/pseuds/FebruaryGemini
Summary: "...I knew it. I shouldn't have bothered you in the first place."





	A Favor

“Hey, John?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Can you do something weird for me?”  
“How weird is weird?”  
“Not very. I just want you to leave this channel open for a while.”  
“Why?”  
“So I can hear you.”  
“...Virgil, that is very weird.”  
“Will you do it anyway?”  
“Why?”  
“I don't know! I just want to listen to you!”  
“Virgil, are you ok?”  
“...”  
“Are you still there?”  
“Where's Gordon right now?”  
“At the bottom of the ocean. Why?”  
“He might die.”  
“Uh...yes? Virgil, are you ok?”  
“His air supply could spring a leak and he'd never come home.  
“And Alan. He's in some cave system in Russia. One wrong move and the entire thing fills up with snow. And you! Do you ever think about how many things have to be working exactly right in order for you to keep living? If just one of those things malfunctions--”  
“Virgil. These are not the kinds of things you want to be hearing from your older brother.”  
“...I know. You can hang up if you want to.”  
“I don't even have to calculate the exact odds of me dying to tell you, they're very small.”  
“John, I won't believe you.”  
“What?”  
“I mean, I do believe you, I know that you're safe, but the odds are there and you can't convince me to ignore that.”  
“Ok… What am I supposed to do then?”  
“...just leave the channel open.”  
“...roger that, Thunderbird Two.”  
________________________________________________________  
“Thunderbird One, this is Thunderbird Five, over.”  
“This is Thunderbird One. What’s up, John?”  
“Scott, I’m worried about Virgil.”  
“Why? What sort of trouble is he in?”  
“I don’t know, maybe none, but he’s not acting like himself.”  
“Who’s he acting like then?”  
“Ha, ha, very funny. He’s just been kinda… paranoid.”  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, he wanted me to keep the channel open so he could listen to me being alive."  
"That is weird. Any idea what might have brought this on?"  
"Not a clue. I was hoping you might know something."  
"Well, I don't."  
"Great."  
"Keep me posted though."  
"Will do."  
________________________________________________________  
"John, I accessed Virgil's vital signs and there don't appear to be any physical problems. The only logical answer is that--"  
"It's mental. Thanks, EOS, but I think I figured that part out already."  
________________________________________________________  
"Gordon, get back to base. I'm calling an emergency family meeting."  
"Ah! Scott, you scared him off!"  
"Who?"  
"Nothing, never mind. What's this meeting about? Did I do something wrong again?"  
"No, it's Virgil."  
"Did Virgil do something wrong? I didn't think he had it in him."  
"No! Just get up here, ok?"  
"Roger that, Thunderbird One."  
________________________________________________________  
"Thunderbird Three, this is Thunderbird Five. What's your status?"  
"Hey, Thunderbird Five. Kayo and I are just getting them onto the ship."  
"When do you think you'll be home?"  
"About three hours, why?"  
"Scott's called an emergency family meeting."  
"Really? Did Gordon do something wrong again?"  
"No, this time it's Virgil."  
"What happened?"  
"Nothing bad, he's just... not up to par."  
"I have no idea what that means, but we'll be home as quick as we can."  
________________________________________________________  
"What does John say?"  
"Scott's called an emergency family meeting."  
"Does that include me?"  
"Probably. Let's just get these guys to safety and then we can find out."  
________________________________________________________  
"John, are you still on the line with Virgil?"  
"No, he hung up once he reached the crash site."  
"Do you know when he'll be back?"  
"It won't be less than four hours."  
"Ok, keep an eye on him."  
"I always do."  
________________________________________________________  
"Ok, what could Virgil do that was bad enough to call a family meeting?"  
"How about, leaving a call on just to listen to John being alive."  
"Yup, that's pretty bad."  
"Alan and Kayo should be here in an hour. John, don't you think you should be down here?"  
"No. If I go down now, he might not let me come back."  
"What?! Scott, what's happening?"  
"We don't know, Gordon."  
“It’s possible that Virgil’s having some sort of mental break-down.”  
________________________________________________________  
"Did John say what the meeting was about?”  
“Virgil’s not ‘up to par’ or something.”  
“What does that mean?”  
“No clue.”  
“Do you think he failed?”  
“Virgil? Ha! Virgil wouldn’t fail.”  
“It’s possible.”  
“...I guess…”  
________________________________________________________  
“Thunderbird Five to Thunderbird Two, come in Thunderbird Two.”  
“Hey, John, what’s up?”  
“Just checking in. How’s it going?”  
“I've made contact with the crew, but the captain's out cold and we’re having trouble getting him out of his seat.”  
“Ok. There’s a storm that’s heading your way, so you might want to hurry.”  
“Roger that, Thunderbird Five.”  
________________________________________________________  
“Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Three.”  
“Yeah?”  
“What’s your ETA?”  
“Twenty minutes. So...what happened? Did Virgil fail?”  
“He kept a line open so he could listen to John being alive.”  
“Yeah? I do that all the time.”  
“...why?”  
“It’s comforting.”  
“Ok…”  
“So what’s the meeting for?”  
“...”  
“Scott?”  
________________________________________________________  
“You didn’t tell me Alan did that too.”  
“Alan does that too?”  
________________________________________________________  
“Alan.”  
“Yeah, John?”  
“Do you leave channels open just to listen to me?”  
“It’s not like you notice.”  
“Alan!”  
“What?”  
________________________________________________________  
“Stop laughing! How would you feel if one of your brothers was in space all the time?!”  
________________________________________________________  
“Hey! Now we can have this meeting that isn’t about me.”  
“Should it be about you?”  
“No! No, I didn’t do anything this time.”  
“Sure…”  
“I still don’t see why we have to have a meeting at all. Virgil was probably just feeling lonely.”  
“Why would he be lonely? He’s got all of us.”  
“Gordon, it is possible to feel alone in the middle of a crowd.”  
“John’s right. Maybe we’ve been ignoring him.”  
“What have we been ignoring?”  
“You remember his birthday party, don’t you?”  
“That wasn’t supposed to end like that.”  
“Does he think we haven’t been paying attention?”  
“He was talking about Gordon dying though.”  
“...really?”  
“Yeah.”  
“What else did he say?”  
“Not much. He just went on about how easy it would be for one of us to die.”  
________________________________________________________  
“Hey, guys… what’s going on?”  
“This is an intervention.”  
“A what?”  
“Virgil, we can’t have you being paranoid.”  
“Paranoid?”  
“John told us about your call.”  
“...I knew it. I shouldn’t have bothered you in the first place.”  
“Wait, Virgil!”  
“No, Scott, let him go. I’ll talk to him.”  
________________________________________________________  
“...Thunderbird Two?”  
“I’m fine, John.”  
“I know. I just wanted to apologize.”  
“Why?”  
“I’m sorry I told Scott. I made everyone worry and I didn’t mean to betray you like that.”  
“No, it’s fine. You just did what you thought was right.”  
“So… why did you contact me in the first place?”  
“Have you ever seen The Face? Probably not.”  
“What face?”  
“The Face. The one everybody has right before they realize they’re being rescued.”  
“Well, I’ve heard The Voice.”  
“Close enough, I guess.”  
“Why?”  
“It’s not like I’m afraid of losing you guys or anything, I know you’re safe. We’re safe. We’re careful, we double check, we only take risks where necessary, I know that. And I know that in the unlikely event that one of us does die, we’ll keep doing what we do. We’ll find a way to be fine. We’re good at that. I just don’t want anyone to make The Face.  
“I don’t want Gordon to panic when he finds out he can’t breathe. I don’t want Alan to shout himself hoarse trying to contact you, or anyone at all. I don’t want Scott to be afraid. I don’t want anyone to be afraid.”  
“...Virgil?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I won’t be afraid.”  
“You can’t blame yourself either!”  
“I won’t blame myself either.”  
“...thanks, John. I’m just glad nobody else thinks about this.”  
“Oh... you’d be surprised.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment with your favorite line and why it stood out to you, I'm really curious.


End file.
